Bob Coulson Posted 16 November , 2003 Share Posted 16 November , 2003 Latest local memorial research has turned up instances of men "enlisting in the field". Was this a common occurence? How did it come about? Would welcome any comments. Bob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted 17 November , 2003 Share Posted 17 November , 2003 I haven't seen any enlisting in the field, but have seen on a few occasions the mention of men stowing away on the troop transport ships from Australia who were enlisted or taken on the strength of the unit while aboard the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeppoSapone Posted 17 November , 2003 Share Posted 17 November , 2003 I haven't seen any enlisting in the field, but have seen on a few occasions the mention of men stowing away on the troop transport ships from Australia who were enlisted or taken on the strength of the unit while aboard the ship. Wrong war, and not exactly the same. However, I did read about a jockey who was in either Singapore or Malaya when the 8th Division arrived. He promptly joined the 2AIF and was given an "MX" prefix to his number. I've an idea that he was MX1? Could this sort of thing have happened in WW1? Would there have been any Australians resident in say Egypt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Bluestein Posted 18 November , 2003 Share Posted 18 November , 2003 May be slightly different: Geoffrey Barron Taylor joined the 15th Bn (48th Highlanders) CEF on the regiments arrival in England. Taylor was attending Oxford at the time and immidiately commissioned Lieut. (killed April 24, 1915) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest paddy Posted 18 November , 2003 Share Posted 18 November , 2003 G'day Many of the well known photographs taken at Anzac Cove were by Phillip F E Schuler. He was sent as a correpondent by the Melbourne Age, and was associated with Dr Bean from the Sydney Morning Herald. He is reputed to have said that he couldn't stand around watching, and joined up. He was killed in Europe. There are about 50 of his photographs on the AWM website, and the Dust Jackets of most Australian books on WW1 feature an example. He produced a pamphlet "The Battlefields of Anzac". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_davies Posted 18 November , 2003 Share Posted 18 November , 2003 Looking through the papers of William Victor Moore (via the online NA of A), 3842, 60th Australian Infantry, there are two sets of attestation papers. Perhaps I'm confused but that's what what they look like. The first attestation paper is from July 1915 show an enlistment in Victoria, while the second from May 1916 show the district or state as "Hogshead, Egypt" (?). The second attestation papers are pages 7 and 8 in his file for anyone who is interested. William appears to have been with the 12th Reinforcements/7th Battalion, then the 59th and finally 60th Battalions. There is a brief reference to him not embarking on 23/11/15, with a later note seemingly contradicting this (?). Sadly William was killed in action, 5 April 1918. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted 18 November , 2003 Share Posted 18 November , 2003 Hi Jim I've seen similar cases where men have enlisted in units in Victoria/NSW etc and embark with that unit but when the ship pulls into Fremantle in WA many overstayed their leave due to the effects of alcohol and missed the ship leaving. These men then must have reported to the local authority who drafted them into the next reinforcement unit to leave Australia. Many times this means they would have to fill out new forms and most likely serve with a different battalion. On quite a few embarkation rolls I've seen the comment written next to a man's name 'Failed to re-embark with 6th Reinforcements to 19th Battalion' or something similar. Cheers Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest paddy Posted 18 November , 2003 Share Posted 18 November , 2003 Instances occurred where Lighthorsemen sent to England to recover from wounds at Anzac were transferred to the Infantry. That was more expedient than having them shipped out to their original units in the desert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Coulson Posted 19 November , 2003 Author Share Posted 19 November , 2003 Thanks to all for the comments and info. Any more would be most welcome. Bob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 19 November , 2003 Share Posted 19 November , 2003 "Soldiers Died in the Great War" lists about 90 soldiers who have, as their place of enlistment, "In the Field." They're mostly Royal Engineers and within the RE they're mostly members of Tunneling Companies. I wonder if they were the miners persuaded to join the army in the early days of tunnelling, who arrived in France days later with no millitary training whatsoever and without having gone through the usual formalities? These are the 26 men who have no previous units listed in their "Supplementary Notes" Section, although the absence of supplementary notes doesn't neccessarily mean that the men weren't transferred from other units. There are a further 25 Tunnelling Company men definitely transferred from other units, mostly infantry. Most of these Tunnelling company men listed as having enlisted "in the Field" came from Scotland. There are also 11 men who were in the Special Brigade, 7 with no record of earlier service and 4 transferred. There are 14 men who were in other RE units, 6 with no record of earlier service and 8 transferred. So the "In the Field" enlistment category seems to have been a RE thing. As some of the men with this designation were transferred from other units, they must have already enlisted, so perhaps the RE used "enlisted in the Field" rather misleadingly, to account for transfers and other new arrivals? There are also 8 "in the Field" soldiers transferred to Infantry units from the RE. 7 RASC men also have this designation and 2 infantrymen. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Birch Posted 19 November , 2003 Share Posted 19 November , 2003 Tom You are right about civilian miners being enlisted in the field. See "War Underground" by Alexander Barrie. One reason for this was to get the men under military disipline and out of the militant clutches of the Unions. So far as I remember there was also a problem over wages with civilian miners earning more than RE men which understandably led to discontent. Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 20 November , 2003 Share Posted 20 November , 2003 Here's an unusual one to add to your collection Bob Details are from 'The Cross on the sword' by Johnstone & Hagerty Fr Michael Bergin was "An Irish Jesuit working in Syria, he had been interned by the Turks. Becoming ill with smallpox, he was released and went to Egypt. Hearing of the shortage of Catholic chaplains with the AIF, he attached himself to the Australian Light Horse near Cairo. Accompanying them to Gallipoli, he was actually commissioned on the Anzac beach. 'He was Killed near Zonnebeke, N.E. of Ypres on 11th Oct. Our battalion was in the front line, and as was his usual custom, he went up to the find out if there was anything he could do for the men. On the way to the front a piece of shell caught him in the chest, killing him instantly.' [Lt-Col Christie, 51st Bn. AIF, letter] His name is on the magnificent Australian War Memorial at Canberra, although he never set foot on Australian soil." Regards Michael D.R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Coulson Posted 20 November , 2003 Author Share Posted 20 November , 2003 Michael, That's a fascinating tale, many thanks for posting it. Bob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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